"Opus" wrote...
[snip test questions]

First off, I ain't gotta clue as to which way to go with these questions,
though I do like Frank's channelling of Rodney Dangerfield from "Back to
School." Probably the practical answer.

Anyway, what struck me more is the specificity of the questions. While
certainly there are multiple "right" answers (so long as they are well
argued) it seems that there is a general tack one must take to get the
questions correct. Am I wrong on that?

In my field the exams (PhD qualification exams) are much more open-ended. A
hypothetical might be:
_____
"Historian Herbert G. Gutman has argued that as the American working class
formed in the period of time commonly known as the "Progressive Era," these
people relied upon a shared, pre-industrial culture to guide and support
them through the changes and travails of industrialization. Discuss this
idea critically, acknowledging supporters, detractors and implications."
_____

There are no right answers here. The purpose (other than of course a
professionalizing "rite-of-passage") is to prove that you can regurgitate
the arguments of many different historians in a short time frame (these
exams are typically 90 minutes with a pencil in a small room -- makes it
easier to stab yourself in the neck if you don't have an answer.) The
faculty then break out the Rosetta Stone to decipher your chickenscratch and
then decide if you know enough about the field to "qualify" to move on to
write your diss. It's a strange process.

Anyway, thanks for posting the questions. Very interesting. And good luck...

Dan